Adrenaline surges as two opposing players stand ready to crush each other at the snap. The ball flies and pads collide while the offense attempts to deliver a powerful drive through the defensive line.

Amidst the chaotic struggle, the quarterback sneaks a slender route through a hole in the defensive blocks and finds himself at full sprint as he speeds toward the end zone.

He dives just in time for a touchdown, but through his fall receives a massive blow to the back of his leg by the helmet of his adversary.

Though his injuries remain undiagnosed, Greg Kilgore, ?07, limped off the field after a 20-yard run and scoring two touchdowns and the Eagles led Strathmore, 13-8, near the end of the first half on Sept. 16.

“I was not able to plant and throw after the hit,” Kilgore said, “so when I went in for a couple of plays after the accident, it felt like my leg just gave out. The trainer told me to stay out of the game and it was hard to watch from the sidelines and watch the game slip away from us.”

Kilgore also said that the Strathmore defense knew the Eagles would run the ball so they just stacked the line and played for the run. But head coach Jon Hall was upbeat about the team’s performance despite his quarterbacking loss.

?We?re extremely pleased at the team?s motivation to get the job done and the extent of their physical determination throughout the game,? Hall said.

In response to Kilgore?s injury, sophomore Ryan Brunn stepped in as backup quarterback and, through his skills as runningback, ran the ball in a desperate gasp to keep up with their Strathmore rivals. Brunn is the only sophomore on the varsity squad.

?Ryan had only been given few cracks at quarterback during summer practices and relied on rushing rather than passing during the game,? Hall said. ?He did well throughout the last two quarters, but with the loss of our only quarterback, left us with very little play options.?

By half time Strathmore led, 16-13, as they scored late in the first half.

The Eagles? defense which stifled the Spartans in the first half gave up two long runs of 65 and 38 yards to break a tight game open.

Strathmore won, 29-13, leaving the Eagles with a non-league and overall record of 0-3. One a year ago, the Eagles beat Strathmore by a point.

FC?s will travel to Coast Union on Sept. 23, as the football team battles their rival just south of Cambria. Many of the student body are scheduled to attend the away game as part of the annual beach trip to Cayucos.

?The key is to shut down Coast?s star receiver and disable their passing capabilities,? Hall said in preparation for the upcoming game against the Broncos. ?Often that is what gives them an upper hand against us.?

For more information about the Coast Union game, please contact the high school office at 299-1695, ext 5. Directions to the game are in the LINKS menu in this newspaper and information about the beach trip are in a Sept. 14 article by Jennifer Rose called “Beach trip game on.”